John Langdon is an outstanding typographic designer, lettering artist and writer. An English major, he later on combined his passion for language, illusion and ambiguity in the art of ambigrams, words that can be read from more than one point of view. In his interview to DI John shares his experience on designing ambigrams.

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To begin with, tell us about how you started on ambigrams. What came to be your first ambigram?

It was such an organic process, developing over a few years (not to mention being traceable to my childhood!), that it's not easy to pinpoint, but here are a couple of stabs at it: In the late 60s, inspired by Robert Indiana's LOVE painting and the peace-and-love-oriented hippie movement, I explored the graphic possibilities that those two words, and the letters that comprised them, seemed to offer. My experiments with LOVE evolved into the word LEVEL, and although the drawings look very crude to me now, symmetry and optical illusion became part of the process and the goal. My fascination with manipulating shapes to perform symmetrical and illusionary gymnastics was heavily influenced by M. C. Escher's work.

As an English major I had a particular interest in and love of individual words and as an (untrained) artist I was almost obsessed with their graphic presentation. I began my career at a typesetting shop, where I learned a great deal about conventional typography, and was first exposed to graphic design publications that got me hooked on logo design. In the early 70s I saw 2 logos that really grabbed my attention to: one was for the French clothing company NEW MAN, and other was for the Volunteers in Service to America, known as VISTA. While the manipulations that made these logos rotationally symmetrical were minimal, they were striking designs. At first I merely hoped that I would someday get the opportunity to design a word that would do what they did but when I saw Tom Carnase's drawing of a rotationally symmetrical 72, I realized that maybe a lot of letters could be wrestled into cooperation.

I often stayed up late after my wife went to bed, entertaining myself with a pad of layout paper and a pencil. One night a cold beer, a new pad of paper, a new pencil, a fresh pack of Marlboros, and a favorite Electric Light Orchestra album inspired me to write the word HEAVEN on my page. It had a bit of a symmetrical look, and when I rotated it, I realized I could make it read the same from both sides.

What is your definition of ambigram?

My definition of an ambigram is a word (or name) that can be read with equal ease from more than one vantage point. To me, a logo that has two symmetrical letters or a graphic image that looks the same from more than one vantage point have ambigrammatic qualities, but are not ambigrams, per se. (personal and hair splitting, I know…) Further, though, I think that an ambigram must be readable without an accompanying typeset version of the word, and the letters must not be tortured in complete disregard for their heritage. An image that is symmetrical, but is not attractive or readable, is not, in my opinion, an ambigram.

Why are they getting so popular?

Ambigrams have the combined appeal of something beautiful and something magical. Symmetry is inherently beautiful (the subject of a much longer soliloquy sometime), and the surprise of something unexpected is a source of joy.

But there was no demand for ambigrams — no empty niche waiting to be filled — before Scott Kim and I began to create beautiful ambigrams (or even after, come to think of it). So there was no great rush for people or businesses to rush out and get one. It took the combination of Dan Brown's stunningly popular Robert Langdon novels and the internet to make ambigrams so popular.

Your works incorporate language, type and philosophy. How are they interrelated?

Ambigrams began gestating in me in my late teens when I began a process of individuation, leaving behind the influences of my childhood and searching for my own sense of meaning in life. When I first saw the yin yang symbol, it made a deep, deep impression on me — I seemed to immediately understand its universal truth and the infinite situations it could be applied to. By the time I came to read about Taoism (the origin of the yin yang symbol) years later, I had already developed a network of ideas around yin and yang. Those ideas just happened to be identical to the ancient Chinese philosophy.

The yin/yang concept that is most relevant to ambigrams is that we should always look at things from more than one point of view, that other points of view are as valid as our own, and, with effort, can be comfortably nestled with our own.

The words that I have traditionally chosen to manipulate into ambigrams are those that express the universal forces of balance, polarization, reciprocity, complementary opposites, etc. I can enhance the communication of those concepts when I can present them along simultaneous verbal and visual tracks. When I do a commissioned ambigram, the client needs to supply his/her own philosophical reasons for why an ambigram is appropriate. I those cases I'm focused on readability and beauty only (and, if possible, an appropriate style).

Type itself is less integrated with language and philosophy for me, as regards ambigrams. But it's an important aspect of the communication of the ideas. Thousands of years of human cultural development have gone into the development of the alphabet we use to communicate our ideas through visual language. As readers we are the target audience for typography, and thus, in an indirect way, the shapers of the letters we read. Classical typefaces became classical typefaces by serving the cause of reading better than the many type designs that have fallen by the wayside. When I create a letter that must be easily readable from two directions, conventional typography is the standard by which I measure its success. In many, many cases, this is an unattainable standard — one that I fall short of often. But it's what I strive for nonetheless, and I think that is largely responsible for the success of my ambigrams. On the other hand, I can honestly say that even some of the more bizarre styles that my some of my ambigrams display, have underlying characteristics that are derived from the principles of conventional type.

You mention Salvador Dali and Rick Griffin as some of your major influences. What is it that inspired you in their works? Anything you borrowed from their styles?

Dali's may have been the first paintings I'd ever seen as a kid that weren't landscapes or still lifes or portraits. They were mind expanding. They inspired me to reach beyond what was considered normal. Specifically, though, it was his playful manipulation of shapes, allowing the same form to be interpreted more than one way — especially in figure/ground relationships — that I latched onto for myself.

Rick Griffin's personal work (seen in underground comics in the early 70s), and even some of his commissioned work (the AOXOMOXOA album cover, e.g.) had a mystical and deeply philosophical undertone to it. His lettering was the most individualistic of all the psychedelic poster artists. More than anything, I think what I got from digging his work was enthusiasm and energy — in a sense, I felt that his work was supporting what I wanted and was trying to do.

What are the core principles of designing ambigrams? How are they similar or different from doodles?

Wow. Core principles. Hm. On one level the answer would be readability and attractiveness. I guess the answer is largely contained in what I was saying about typography. I might also answer with the word “drawing.” I never start with an existing typeface. I let the letters and the relationships among them tell me what needs to happen. While I could never equate ambigrams with doodles, I would say that doodling is a hugely important stage, early in the process of designing an ambigram. Aesthetics are not at all in my mind in this exploration and play stage. By quickly exploring all kinds of unconventional approaches to shaping the letters, I can first figure out what needs to happen structurally in order for an ambigram to become a real possibility. Once that has been figured out, I then begin to refine the shapes into a consistent style that follows the principles of conventional typography as closely as possible.

What knowledge and skills must ambigram designer have to do ambigrams?

Be willing to try anything, to believe that nothing is impossible*, and that the process will be fun.

* this may or may not be true, but the attitude is very helpful. To create really good ambigrams, an intimate familiarity with letters, typestyles, and their histories is invaluable. To create really beautiful letterforms you need to love to draw with a pencil. (For me, they're Ticonderoga hard and extra hard pencils with extant and viable erasers on the tops.)

What makes a good ambigram? What are the criteria?

Readability and attractiveness.

Are there any words which will not co-operate?

On one hand, I'd have to say that words that just roll over and say, go ahead, I'm easy, are not much fun at all. When Wordplay was published I felt that I had done all I needed to do with ambigrams. Now that almost all the ambigrams I do are commissions, I am most engaged and enthused when the word plays hard to get. But I hate it when they simply refuse to cooperate no matter how hard I try. Yes, there are many words that refuse the opportunity of becoming ambigrams. But sometimes, after failing on the first hundred tries, the hundred and first will work. So it's hard to know when to give up. When I'm doing them for myself, I can walk away, and come back in six weeks or six months. When it's a commission, there's normally some kind of time expectation, and also a need for the imposition of a practical allotment of time.

There are many types of ambigrams. Which one is your favorite and why?

Rotational (self-contained) ambigrams that read the same both ways are my favorite. They are much simpler than chain ambigrams, and other, more complex arrangements, and yet their symmetry is more subtle than that of mirror-image ambigrams and totems. Ambigrams that read differently from each vantage pint lack the symmetry that contributes to attractiveness. The viewer is more aware, in those cases, of what indignities may have been inflicted on the letters.

Rotational ambigrams allow the use of one of the most important aspects of letter design: more information about the identity of a letter is contained in its top half than in its bottom half. That means that I have more freedom to manipulate the bottom half of a letter in order to define the letter it will become after rotation. With horizontal mirror-image ambigrams, the top of one letter trying to be the top of another letter is much less likely to be successful.

The symmetry of a rotational ambigram transmits a harmonious and pleasing visual sensation even before the awareness of symmetry becomes conscious. Ultimately these factors mean that I can present what looks like a normal uni-directional word, and then surprise my audience when the word is inverted.

Describe how your creating process flows. How long does it take on average to do an ambigram? How do you charge?

I write a word in front of me, upside-down, in all caps. I then begin to try to see the same word (or another word) in the inverted forms of the one I wrote down. Some letters invert into themselves or others easily. Some must be wrestled down and convinced to behave the way I want them to (but I'm really not a violent person!). And some letters simply refuse and I lose the wrestling match.

The amount of time required to determine whether and how and ambigram can be done can vary greatly. City of Brotherly (Love) Philadelphia took me about 15-20 minutes to figure out (!), while YOU/ME and Angels & Demons took many, many hours each... On average, I guess, that stage takes a half hour to an hour.

Once I have figured out that a structural solution is possible, I spend a good deal of time on the style, because it's the style that makes an ambigram comfortable and convincing for the viewer/reader. No matter what unnatural acts I have coerced the letters into performing, I then have to massage them into looking like they're completely comfortable with the idea. Stylistic (aesthetic) harmony is of critical importance to me. The aesthetic refinement and final pencil drawing stage probably takes 10-15 minutes per letter for each of those stages, and the finished art, done in Adobe Illustrator, probably about the same.

You became known through the association with Dan Brown, and the novels 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Angels and Demons' where the protagonist Robert Langdon was named after you. Besides the name, what you and the character of Richard Langdon have in common?

My logo design profession often calls for the knowledge and use of universal symbols and thereby brings me into a realm neighboring on Robert Langdon's knowledge of such symbols. Many of the symbols referred to in the two Robert Langdon novels are of a religious nature, and thus closely related to philosophical symbols (such as yin/yang). Robert Langdon also seems quite knowledgeable regarding word origins and etymologies, a field that is quite close to my heart and mind. Also his phobias regarding heights and water, are not too far from similar quirks of mine. Dan and I have also identified some overlapping fears.

What have you been working on lately? Any further collaboration with Dan Brown?

A couple of months ago, the props department at Sony/Columbia Pictures asked me to create a few new ambigrams for the upcoming Angels & Demons movie… For the most part, I have devoted the past year or so to writing a (still secret) book, that is quite different from anything I've ever done before (although wordplay is still a fundamental part of it). I've also been involved with Eric Zillmer, a psychology professor at Drexel University (where I teach in the Graphic Design program), combining our common interest in inkblots. Following our presentation, “Open to Interpretation — The Art and Science of Inkblots,” at a Rorschach conference in Belgium in July, we signed a book contract with Hogrefe and Huber for an expanded treatment of our topic. In the meantime, I have done a couple of paintings, and several commissioned ambigrams.

The second edition of your Wordplay book came out in 2005. Who and why would you recommend to read it?

No one should read it unless they are prepared to be challenged on their assumptions about themselves, other people and the universe around us, as well as entertained and occasionally amazed in the process.

On the final note, could you do Design Interviews?

See question 'Are there any words which will not co-operate?'

Helen Walker